Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

acropolis

(Encyclopedia)acropolis əkrŏpˈəlĭs [key] [Gr.,=high point of the city], elevated, fortified section of various ancient Greek cities. The Acropolis of Athens, a hill c.260 ft (80 m) high, with a flat oval top c...

Elephanta

(Encyclopedia)Elephanta ĕlĭfănˈtə [key], island, c.2 sq mi (5.2 sq km), in Mumbai harbor, Maharashtra state, W India. It is noted for six Brahmanic caves, carved (8th cent.) from solid rock some 250 ft (76 m) ...

Dogon

(Encyclopedia)Dogon dōgänˈ [key], African people who live on the bend of the Niger River in the Republic of Mali in West Africa. A patrilineal, sedentary agricultural people, they number over 360,000. They depen...

Iron Gate

(Encyclopedia)Iron Gate, Rom. Porţile de Fier, Serbian Gvozdena Vrata, gorge of the Danube River, c.2 mi (3.2 km) long and c.550 ft (170 m) wide, on the Serbia-Romania border between Orşova and Drobeta-Turnu Seve...

Llano Estacado

(Encyclopedia)Llano Estacado läˈnō ĕstəkäˈdō [key] or Staked Plain, level, semiarid, plateaulike region of the S Great Plains, c.40,000 sq mi (103,600 sq km), E N.Mex. and W Tex., between the Pecos River an...

aureole, in physics

(Encyclopedia)aureole ôrˈēōlˌ [key], in physics, luminous circle seen when the sun or other bright light is observed through a diffuse medium, i.e., smoke, thin cloud, fog, haze, or mist. It sometimes occurs a...

Masters, Edgar Lee

(Encyclopedia)Masters, Edgar Lee, 1869–1950, American poet and biographer, b. Garnett, Kans. He maintained a successful law practice in Chicago from 1892 to 1920. Masters's Spoon River Anthology (1915), a collect...

Kennedy, Nigel

(Encyclopedia)Kennedy, Nigel, 1956–, British violinist. He studied with Dorothy DeLay at Juilliard and debuted as a soloist with the London Philharmonic in 1977. Adept at the classical repertoire, he developed an...

Pontics

(Encyclopedia)Pontics, mountain system, N Turkey, extending c.700 mi (1,100 km) along the southern coast of the Black Sea. The Pontics generally increase in height from west to east, culminating in Kaçkar Daği (1...

popular music

(Encyclopedia)popular music: see country and western music; folk song; gospel music; jazz; rap music; rock music. ...